Spindle Wood (COMPLETED)

Chapter 19

"Hey, Uncle Remus?" Remus looked up with the look of a man who was facing off to Death themself.

"Uh-oh, I know that tone." He said. "Go ask Ro, he's your man."

"Dada already said no." Pat whined, scuffing his shoe along the ground.

"Then I'm gonna say no too. You really think I wanna face the wrath of my brother?!" Remus asked.

"But I really need to go outside today!" Pat insisted. "Alone!"

"No way am I putting myself in danger just cause you wanna sneak out again!" Remus said, completely incredulous. Was this normal with humans? That they became so... emotionally confusing in later years?

"It's really important." Pat said. "I promise you, it is."

"Really?" Remus asked. Pat nodded fervently. "What is it, then?"

Pat looked down at his shoes, finding it very difficult to make eye-contact all of a sudden. "Um... uh- it's, uh, it's- um-"

"Did you meet someone?!"

"No!" Pat denied quickly. "Well... maybe?"

"How do you 'maybe' meet someone?" Remus asked, crossing his arms. Pat twisted his hands together.

"Okay, fine, I did meet someone." He said. "But you can't tell Dada or Papa! They'd kill me if they found out."

"Yeah, with good reason." Remus muttered, turning back to his work.

"Why? Because of what happened 2 years ago?" Pat asked, a scoff on the edge of his tone. "That was just a dream! It wasn't real. The whole 'nightmare man' thing. He's not real. It wasn't real." His confidence faded at Remus' concerned face. "Right?"

Remus didn't say anything.

"It was just a dream, right?" Pat tried again. No reply. "Uncle Remus?"

Remus took a breath. "Pat-"

"Oh my God." Pat's whole body sagged backwards. Remus lept up in case Pat was going to fall but he stayed firmly on two feet. "Oh God... And I've just been... oh my God..." Pat shook his head and regained some posture.

"But this guy, he's not like that." He insisted. "He's not a 'nightmare man'. He's a prince! Who wants to be a librarian..." Pat shook his head. "Anyway, he's really nice and kinda silly and clumsy and- Uncle Remus, I promised to go meet him. I'm gonna be late if I don't go soon."

Remus sighed. Pat had played his game well. He knew Remus couldn't ever physically say no to him.

Remus sighed again, angry with himself at being this easy to sway. "Fine!" Before Pat could run off, he cut in. "But, you have to promise me something so I don't tell Virgil and Ro."

"Anything." Pat said quickly. "At all."

"You have to promise me not to get involved." Remus said. Pat's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Involved?" He repeated. "Like how?"

"I don't know! No... falling in love or anything."

"Ew, gross!" Pat exclaimed, sounding every minute of his 12 years. "Easy, falling in love's gross."

"Promise me." Remus said. "Say it."

Pat rolled his eyes. "He definitely learnt that from Virgil." Remus thought.

"Uncle Remus, I promise not to get involved." Pat recited dully. "Can I go now? I'm gonna be late."

"Fine, sure." Remus said. "Just don't go past the river!"

"Got it!"

Logan checked his pocket watch. 12 past 10. He looked up at Sampson, happily rooting through the grass for anything edible.

"He's not coming, is he?" He asked despondently. Getting no reply (obviously. It was stupid to ask a horse anyway), Logan sighed and slipped his pocket watch into his waistcoat. He leaned his head back against the tree and sighed.

"Course he's not coming." He muttered to himself. "He was just... being kind. Of course no one's going to want to meet up with-"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Logan looked down just in time to see the woodcutter's son run straight into a tree, sending his glasses flying. "Oh shoot, that sucks!"

Logan chuckled a little. "Don't move." He said. "I'll get them for you."

Bending down in one swift motion, Logan picked Pat's (unnervingly square and surprisingly unharmed) glasses up from the forest floor. Giving them a small clean on the cuff of his shirt, he handed them back to Pat. Pat pushed them up his nose, grinning and blinking - presumably to get used to the sudden clarity of the world again.

"Thanks." Pat said. "Anyway, I'm here! Sorry I'm late, I got held up."

Logan ran a hand through his hair. "It's no problem." He said quickly. "Glad you could make it."

Guess who stayed up all night reading The Count of Monte Cristo and has only just gotten to page 102. That book is fucking long!
Bye,
Blaize